A pair of wins in their final two games tied a nice bow on the end of an up-and-down season for the Wabash volleyball team. The Little Giants finished in fifth place out of nine teams in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League, narrowly missing out on a fourth place spot to secure their berth in the conference tournament. Their 16–10 record set a new program high.
“The most pride I have is our training culture,” said Head Volleyball Coach Ashaun Baker, who is in his second year as head coach. “The level of competition in practice was ridiculous. It has come leaps and bounds since my first year. The guys have done a really great job.”
Bolstered by a strong freshman class and riding the high of a 15–win season in 2024, the team opened its 2025 season with a nine-game winning streak. They blew past opponents that would have troubled teams in years past.
“There were a couple games where we would have gotten our butts kicked back then, but we were holding our own against some really good teams,” said Jackson Leeper ’25. “It was really cool to see that progress take form in those games. Like against Goshen [College], we got our butts kicked my junior year, but this year was the opposite. We took care of business.”
The team ultimately missed out on the conference tournament after their hot start, hitting a difficult patch of form in conference. They played several top teams in the conference down to the wire, including the number one seed in the conference Mount Union, whom the Little Giants took to five sets. While the program is still in relative infancy — this season was the fifth in program history — they signaled they aren’t pushovers in conference play.
“I’m sure no one ever thought that we would be in a position to do that,” said Will Beikes ’25, the team’s only other senior. “That’s probably the most rewarding experience I had this year. I like being the underdog. I like surprising people and shutting them up. I like people thinking we’re not going to compete, because that makes me want to work harder and beat you even more.”
Beikes and Leeper — who led the team in assists and blocks, respectively — have learned to relish and appreciate the good times. They’re used to the bad ones. Their first two seasons in the program, the team had a combined mark of 12-37. Their last two years amount to a 31-21 record, a stark turnaround from their first two years in the program. Their contributions were pivotal for the team’s success according to Baker.
“It was really, really meaningful to have those two,” said Baker. “They’ve done a lot to help display great leadership.”
It hasn’t always been easy, and at times, a team effort has been required from the now-senior leaders.
“Those lows were really low,” said Leeper. “Going 3-18 your freshman year is not easy, but I really relied on Beikes a lot because he’s a really good friend of mine and a good teammate. So, if he’s struggling, then I’m going to struggle with him. I always just kept my head forward, kept persevering through the mud, the blood and the sweat and trusting it is going to get better one day. This just sucks right now. I had a positive mindset looking to the future.”
Now the team’s attention turns to next season, with hopes to improve upon their new record and grow the program, even with their two key seniors graduating. Beikes and Leeper hope the team will continue to build on their foundation in the years to come and remain focused on achieving each seasons’ goals, as well as to be thankful for coaches and support staff.
“What I want them to remember is to be grateful and be humble, because it wasn’t always that way,” said Beikes. “Stay humble, keep working hard, but also be grateful for the culture that you have. Because the culture was not something we had. So even having something like that is something worth being grateful for, even though that’s not something you think of being grateful for all the time.”